KSKN

KSKN
Spokane, Washington/Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
United States
Branding Spokane's CW 22 (general)
KREM 2 News (newscasts)
Channels Digital: 36 (UHF)
Virtual: 22 (PSIP)
Subchannels 22.1 The CW
22.2 AccuWeather
Affiliations The CW (2006–present)
Owner Tegna Media
(KSKN Television, Inc.)
First air date 1983 (1983)[1]
Call letters' meaning SpoKaNe
Sister station(s) KREM
Former channel number(s) Analog:
22 (UHF, 1983–2009)
Former affiliations Independent (1983–1988)
Dark (1988–1989)
HSN (1989–1997)
UPN (1997–2002)
The WB (2002–2006)
Transmitter power 250 kW
Height 622 m
Facility ID 35606
Transmitter coordinates 47°35′41″N 117°17′53″W / 47.59472°N 117.29806°W / 47.59472; -117.29806
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS
Website www.spokanescw22.com

KSKN, virtual channel 22 (digital channel 36), is the CW-affiliated television station for Spokane, Washington, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and the Inland Northwest. It is also the sister station of KREM-TV and shares some of its programming. KSKN is owned by Tegna.

History

KSKN signed on the air on October 1, 1983 as an independent competitor to KAYU-TV (channel 28). The station featured a general entertainment format consisting of classic cartoons from 6 to 9 a.m., religious shows from 9 a.m. to noon, classic sitcoms from noon to 2:30 p.m., new cartoons from 2:30 to 5 p.m., recent sitcoms from 5 to 7 p.m., movies from 7 to 9 p.m., a mix of old and recent sitcoms from 9 p.m. to midnight, and movies during the overnight hours. Weekends consisted of more movies and drama shows. The station had good ratings, but overspent on programming. The original owners filed for bankruptcy in the summer of 1985. The station scaled back operations to daily from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. The station added more barter shows and dropped the stronger programming. In the fall of 1985, KSKN was sold. The new owners, former owners of KMSB in Tucson returned the station to stronger programming and added most of the shows the previous owners lost.

The station continued to suffer financially. These owners also filed bankruptcy in April 1987. The station began carrying home shopping programming from various sources 15 hours a day and some religious shows and cartoons for the remaining 9 hours. In June 1987, KSKN went dark. In the early 1990s, KSKN returned to the airwaves with Home Shopping Network programming 24 hours a day, seven days a week with exception of several hours Sunday Morning when they ran religious and educational kids shows.

In December 1995, KSKN entered into a local marketing agreement with KREM-TV, which was owned by the Providence Journal Company at the time. The station continued carrying Home Shopping Network programming, except during the morning hours and late afternoon hours, when the station ran cartoons. In 1996, the station became an affiliate of the United Paramount Network, with the station carrying the network's primetime programs and a couple hours a day of cartoons were added in afternoons. The station was re-launched early in 1997 with an overhaul of programming. Home Shopping Network programming was relegated to overnights; daytime hours consisted of cartoons until 9 a.m. and from 3 to 5 p.m., sitcoms from 9 a.m. to noon, talk and reality shows from noon to 3 p.m., sitcoms from 5 to 8 p.m. and from 10:30 p.m. to midnight, and a newscast at 10 p.m.

In 2002, the station dropped its affiliation with UPN in favor of becoming a WB affiliate; the station gradually began dropping weekday cartoons from 1999 to 2006, due to changes in the broadcast industry. Belo, who bought out ProJo back in 1997, bought KSKN outright in October 2001. In January 2006, it was announced that The WB and UPN would merge in September 2006 to form The CW Television Network. It was confirmed on April 10 that KSKN would become the new affiliate for The CW. On June 13, 2013, the Gannett Company announced that it would acquire Belo.[2] The sale was completed on December 23, making KSKN Gannett's first CW-affiliated station outside of digital subchannels under its ownership.[3] KSKN became the first station in Spokane to air their news (sister station KREM) from 7:00-9:00 a.m. in September 2014.[4] On June 29, 2015, the Gannett Company split in two, with one side specializing in print media and the other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. KSKN and KREM were retained by the latter company, named TEGNA. [5]

KSKN can be seen in high definition on Comcast/Xfinity channel 111 in the Spokane area, and Time Warner Cable channel 1212 in the Coeur d'Alene and Palouse areas. KSKN can also be seen on channel 22 on Dish Network and DirecTV in standard and high-definition.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[6]
22.1 1080i 16:9 KSKN-DT Main KSKN programming / The CW
22.2 480i 4:3 KSKN-SD Storm Tracker 2

On December 6, 2011, Belo announced it signed affiliation agreements with KSKN and Seattle sister station KING-TV to add Live Well Network to their digital subchannels; Live Well Network replaced Universal Sports on digital subchannel 22.2 effective January 1, 2012, as Universal Sports transitioned into a cable and satellite channel during the first quarter of 2012.[7]

Analog-to-digital conversion

KSKN discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 22, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 36.[8] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 22.

Programming

Some of KSKN's current syndicated programming offerings include: The People's Court, Maury, Extra, Friends, and Family Guy.

References

  1. ↑ The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says October 1, while the Television and Cable Factbook says December 18.
  2. ↑ "Gannett to buy KREM-TV owner Belo for $1.5 billion". KREM.com. Associated Press. June 13, 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  3. ↑ Gannett Completes Its Acquisition of Belo, TVNewsCheck, Retrieved 23 December 2013
  4. ↑ "For the first time, 7:00-9:00 a.m. morning news in Spokane.". changingnewscasts.wordpress.com. 2014-08-31. Retrieved 2015-01-04.
  5. ↑ "Separation of Gannett into two public companies completed | TEGNA". Tegna. Retrieved 2015-06-29.
  6. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KSKN
  7. ↑ Live Well Net Adds Two More Belo Stations, TVNewsCheck, December 6, 2011.
  8. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
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